Drive means for mechanical horse



pr 1958 L. E. YETTER 2,830,459-

DRIVE MEANS FOR MECHANICAL HOR SE Filed June 11, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Lloyd 5. Yer/er INVENTOR. BY 4015.

L. E..YETTER DRIVE MEANS FOR MECHANICAL HORSE April 15, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 11, 1954 Lloyd E. Ye/rer INVENTOR. BY weal-3,...

April 15, 1958 E. YETTER DRIVE MEANS FOR MECHANICAL HORSE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 11, 1954 Lloyd E. Yer/er INVENTO R.

BY "WW United States Patent DRIVE MEANS F OR IVIECHANICAL HORSE Lloyd E. Yetter, Colchester, Ill. Application June 11, 1954; Serial No. 436,082 A A 3 Claims. or. 7486) This invention relates to a mechanical" horse, and particularly to an actuating mechanism for a mechanical amusement or exercising device. I

In the construction and operation of mechanical exercising devices such as'mechanical exercising and amusement devices such as mechanical horses, it is'cu'stomary to provide an actuating mechanism and to mount the device such as the mechanical horse thereon and to control the mechanism by means of a suitable framecontrol device so that the mechanism will actuate the exercising of amusement device for a predetermined length of. time. It has heretofore been the practice to make the "mechanical ride as nearly as possible simulate an actual ride in order to provide more exhilaration for the partytakk ing a ride. Heretofore, these actuating mechanisms'have been extremely complicated and it has been necessary to maintain corps of experienced workmen to maintain a quantity of the mechanical devices'in continuous'operation.

The present invention relates to a comparatively simple and inexpensive actuating mechanism to simulate a horse riding motion so that themaxi mum of entertainment or enjoyment may be secured from the ride thereon.

Itis accordingly an object of the invention to provide a simplified ride actuating device.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an actuating device having few and simple parts.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an actuating device which may be' readily mounted and maintained.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: I v

Figure l is a perspective view of the mechanical ride device according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the actuatingzm'echanism with the seat portion removed;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the actuating device with the seating mechanism removed;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the actuating device with the cover and seating mechanism removed;

' hold+down mernber 116-is fastened ontheflange portion r106: by)any:.suitable'meanstsuch as the'stiibs 118; The

. 2,830,459 Patented Apr. 15, 1958 Theactuating'mechanism according. to the present invention comprises an elongated base member 22 preferably formed as a metallic plate of skeleton-like formation on which the mechanism proper is to be mounted. A motor 24'is mounted adjacent one end of the base 22 preferably substantially centrally of the end of the plate. A speed reducing mechanism includes a sheave 26 on the shaft 28 of themotor 24 with the sheave 26 being of relatively small size and an idler sheave 30 is mounted onfan idler shaft 32 mounted in bearings 34 mounted on the base 22 by means of suitable uprights 36. A flexible tension member such as the V'-belt 38 is entrainedover the sheaves 26 and 30 and a tensioning roller 40 "will be mounted on an arm 42 journaled on a pin 44 on a bracket 46 secured on the base 22 and tensioned sheave'58 is mounted on the drive'shaft 5t and is connected to an intermediate sheave on the idler shaft 32 and fixed to the sheave 30. A suitable tension drive element such as the V-belt 60 is entrained over the sheaves 58 and 60 and an idler roller 64 mounted on a pivotedarm 66 which is journaled on a bracket 68 on the base 22 is pressed into engagement with the belt 62 by rri'e'ansof a suitable tension spring 7il. A disc 72 is rigidly mounted in eccentric relation on the shaft 50 for apurpose presently to be'desc'ribed.

The actuating mechanism'proper includes a transverse plat'e'80having substantiallyparallelarms S2 and 84 rigidly mountedadjacent the ends thereof by any suitable means such as welding, with the arms 82 and 84 extending longitudinally of the plate 22 and' beyond the confines of the plate in substantially parallel relation. Axle pins 86 and88 are-threadedly engaged in the ends of the arms 82 and '84, respectively, and secured by means of lock nuts 90 and 92, respectively. Rollers 9 and 96 arejournalled on the stub ends 86 and 88 and engaged on suitable control tracks 100 and 102. The control 'tracks 162 and 100 are mounted'on a substantially integral mounting bracket 104 having an upstanding.- sidepiece 106 and an angulated base member 103 having-a pair of elongated-apertures lltl'therein forreceiving' the fastening bolts 112. Track member' 102 is provided with a shoulder or abutment 114 for preventing lateral movement of the rollers 96 thereon and thetracks 102 maybe adjusted by meansof the'elongated'slot so that the rollers 96 will be maintained firmly on the tracks withoutany lateral movement. In order to prevent vertical'movement'of the rollers 96; an angulated standard 12 to mount the seating mechanism of the device is rigidly mounted on the plate 80 adjacent the central portion thereof and preferably extending at a suitable angular relation thereto.

Figure 5 is a sectional enlarged elevation of the rocker arm showing the adjustable connection therein;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation showing the eccentric actuating device for the operating arm; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged end view of the control track with parts broken away and in section.

in the exemplary embodiment according to the invention, a housing 1! provides a cover over an actuating mechanism and a mounting standard 12 extends through a suitable aperture in the housing 10 and a ridedevice such as a horse 14 is mounted thereon. Preferably a horse is provided with a suitable seat in the form of a saddle 16 and a coin control device 18 mounted on a standard 20 is provided for controlling the mechanism in the cover 10.

Plate 82 and the rest of the mechanism attached thereto is controlled by means of a two-part rocker arm having a section rigidly connected to the plate 80 by any suitable means such as welding. A second section 122 is separated from the section 120 but rigidly secured thereto by an adjustable connection comprising a threaded rod-like member 124 rigidly secured on the member such as 120 and a nut-like member 126 rigidly secured on the other member such as the member 122 with the nut being rotatable to adjust the position of the member 122 with respect to the member 120.

The oscillatory motion of the device is produced by means of a bearing follower 130 mounted on the end of the section 122 and having a bearing 132 received therein by any suitable means such as the split 124 joined together by means of a bolt 136. The bearing 132 snugly embraces thedisc 72 and asthe disc 72 rotates in the eccentric bearing, because of the rotation of the shaft 50 the end of the rocker arm 122"will form a peculiar eccentric gyration therewith.

,In the operation of the device according to the invention, the motor 24 will be controlled for any suitable period of time, by any suitable device, such as the coin controller 18. When the motor is energized the gear train will reduce the speed so that the shaft 50 will be rotated at a desired rate of speed. The rotation of the shaft 50 will cause the eccentrically mounted disc 72 to turn in an orbit about the shaft 50 so that the follower 130 will be caused to take an annular path about the shaft 50. The rotation of the shaft 50 causing the annular motion of the member 130 causes the arm 120 and 122 to oscillate about the pivot pins 86 and 88 and also cause the rollers 96 to roll backward and forward on the tracks 1 02 giving a compound motion to the standard 12 and the top of the standard 12 will then perform a peculiar series of motions substantially simulating the trotting or galloping of a horse. For example, the horse member will come upwardly and forwardly at an increasing rate, then it will stop and come downwardly and rearwardly at a lesser rate so that the entire motion resembles the motion of a horse in running or galloping relation. Obviously, the extent of the motion may be controlled by the size of the disc 72 and by the amount of adjustment in'the arms 1 and 122. I

For the purpose of exemplification a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described according to. the best present understanding thereof. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifieations may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts thereof without departing from the true spirit andscope of the invention. 1

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An actuating mechanism for a mechanical horse comprising a base member, a pair of trackways mounted on said base member, said trackways being in spaced parallel relation, a pair of bearings mounted on said base member in longitudinally spaced relation to .said trackways, a shaft journaled in said bearings, said shaft being disposed transversely to said trackways, a mounting frame, a pair of rollers journaled on said frame, said rollers being received in said trackways, adisk eccentrically fixed on said shaft, a bearing mountedon said frame and embracing said disk, an upstandingmounting standard fixed on said mounting frame intermediate said rollers and said shaft, and means for rotating saidshaft, whereby compound vertical and longitudinal movement is imparted to said standard.

2. An actuating mechanism for a mechanical ride device comprising a base member, an actuating frame including a mounting plate, a pair of parallel arms fixed on said plate, adjacent the opposite ends thereof, said arms 4 extending from said plate, a roller mounted adjacent the outer end of each of said arms, a pair of traekways mounted on said base and receiving said rollers, said track- Ways being transversely adjustable on said base, a rocker arm fixed to said plate intermediate the ends thereof, said rocker arm extending in substantially parallel relation to said pair of arms, a pair of bearings mounted on said base in longitudinally spaced relation to said trackways, a shaft journaled in said bearings and extending transversely to said rocker arm, a disk eccentrically secured on said shaft, a bearing mounted on said rocker arm and embracing said disk, a mounting standard fixed on said plate in longitudinally spaced relation relative to said bearings, whereby compound vertical and horizontal movement is imparted to said standard.

3. An actuating mechanism for a mechanical ride device comprising a base member, an actuating frame including a mounting plate, a pair of parallel arms fixed on said plate, adjacent the opposite ends thereof, said arms extending from said plate, a roller mounted adjacent the outer end of each of said arms, a pair of trackways mounted on said base and receiving said rollers, said trackways being transversely adjustable on said base, a rocker arm fixed to said plate intermediate the ends thereof, said rocker arm extending in substantially parallel relation to said pair of arms, a pair of bearings mounted on said base in longitudinally. spaced relation to said trackways, a shaftjournaled in said bearings and extending transversely to said rocker arm, a disk eccentrically secured on said shaft, a bearing mounted on said rocker arm and embracing said disk, a mounting standard fixed on said plate in longitudinally spaced relation relative to said bearings, whereby compound vertical and horimntal movement is imparted to said standard, said rocker arm being discontinuous intermediate the ends thereof, an

adjustable connection between the parts including a threaded rod rigidly mounted on one portion and extending across the discontinuity, a nut rigidly secured on the adjacent end, said nut being threadedly engaged on said threaded rod whereby the length of said rocker arm may be adjusted to vary the relation between the vertical and horizontal components of said compound movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

